DeLand City, Florida—Finding the perfect time and attendance solution
The solution needed to offer both desktop and time clock entry
options, reporting capabilities, and be able to interface with the
city’s out-of-state payroll vendor. The group also wanted a costeffective
solution from a well-established vendor that offered
great technical support—even to smaller customers.
Founded in 1882, the central Florida city of DeLand boasts a rich cultural
and educational heritage, including Stetson University, the state’s
oldest private college, and a downtown area listed in the National Register
of Historic Places.
Although the city’s old-fashioned Southern charm endears it to
residents and tourists alike, DeLand’s Director of Information Services,
David Watson, wanted to ensure its time and attendance process was
cutting-edge.
In 2004, Watson and his team determined the old paper-based process,
including some worn out time clocks, needed updating, and looked to
technology to address the issue.
After visiting a time and attendance symposium, Watson knew he had a
challenge on his hands. As a city government, DeLand is beholden to taxpayers
to run as efficiently and effectively as possible. And even though time and
attendance software was an obvious tool to make this happen, Watson also
realized that with only about 400 employees, the city would be competing with
multinational organizations and their thousands of users when it came to
customer service.
DeLand issued a request for proposals for a new time and attendance
solution in June 2005. A selection committee consisting of representatives
from a variety of departments, including police, public works, recreation,
fire, payroll, information technology, finance and development, was
established to review applicants.
“ The solution needed to offer both desktop and
time clock entry options, reporting capabilities, and be able to interface
with the city’s out-of-state payroll vendor. The group also wanted a
cost- effective solution from a well-established vendor that offered great
technical support—even to smaller customers.”
The committee short-listed three vendors from a field of 23 total
respondents. They included Qqest, Kronos, and Perryman and Associates, a local
distributor of Unitime Systems.
In evaluating the finalists, the committee was looking for a variety of
features and capabilities. The solution needed to offer both desktop and time
clock entry options, reporting capabilities, and be able to interface with the
city’s out-of-state payroll vendor. The group also wanted a
cost-effective solution from a well-established vendor that offered great
technical support—even to smaller customers.
After conducting in-person interviews with each vendor, and checking
references, the group unanimously selected Qqest Software System’s
TimeForce, a simple yet powerful software system to collect manage and process
employee time. “We looked very hard at all the finalists,” said
Watson. “One of the vendors we did not select is located just 30 miles
from DeLand. But the bottom line was we just felt more comfortable with
Qqest, and the cost difference was significant. Plus, their references were
great.”
As with any new software solution, the implementation process presented
both technical and cultural challenges. To head off as many problems as
possible, Watson and his team decided on a “walk, not run”
strategy. They visited each department separately, conducted a presentation,
and answered questions. They also rolled out the software to just one
department at a time, starting with City Hall. They allowed a full month of
run-time—or two pay periods—before moving on to the next
department, which allowed the IT team to resolve issues before undertaking
another project.
Employing a more personal approach also helped alleviate concerns some
employees had about using their thumbprints as an identification verification
method. “Some people were a little nervous about this,” he said.
“Because we took the time to walk each person through the process and
answer their questions, we were able to resolve most of their concerns almost
immediately.”
The team encountered their first hiccup during the early rollout period
when they had to install the TimeForce software and database. “After
hearing implementation horror stories from other organizations, including the
customers of some of our RFP finalists, I was prepared for the worst,”
said Watson. “However, the important thing was that everything that
came up was resolved quickly and well. Qqest did a great job at that.”
By July, DeLand had rolled out TimeForce to just about every employee and
every department. With over 300 users and 13 time clocks, the city has made
significant progress toward streamlining its payroll process.
“Automating time and payroll is already saving our people time, and
giving then better information to make better decisions,” said Watson.
One of the most obvious early benefits is that managers can easily
identify and ad- dress exceptions, instead of having to wade through mountains
of data after the fact. “Now, if someone is showing up late or not
clocking out, we can catch it early,” said Watson. “By taking care
of these kinds of issues immediately, our managers can be much more
effective.”
Watson anticipates even more payoffs in the future. “Our rollout of
Qqest’s TimeForce has been really smooth and is working out well,”
he said. “And as employees and managers discover all the features it
offers, including reporting, our experience will only get better.”
